European Stocks Closed Mixed
On Lackluster Economic Data

BRUSSELS -- European stocks finished mixed Friday amid lackluster economic data, but some said the figures reduced fears of early interest-rate increases.

German manufacturing orders fell 1% in February from January, against analysts' expectations of a 1% rise. In the U.S., nonfarm payrolls rose 58,000 in March, at the top end of forecasts, but the unemployment rate rose to 5.7%, higher than the expected 5.6%.